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Multiple Billion Dollar Valuations

Multiple Billion Dollar Valuations

Christopher Webster
January 28, 2025

Startups:

Travel management worth $2.7B:

TravelPerk raises $200 million causing their valuation to double to $2.7 billion. TravelPerk is a Barcelona-based business travel management platform. The cherry on top is TravelPerk also announced that they have acquired Swiss startup, Yokoy, to bring native expenses management into the fray. The company has been able to ride the wave of the travel industry surpassing the pre-pandemic levels. They aren’t the only company to ride this wave. Denver-based Engine has also raised and their valuation is at $2.1 billion. How big will this market grow in 2025 and which startups will come out on top?

How much for a fusion reactor?:

Well another Sam Altman backed startup is making headlines today. This time it is a fusion startup named Helion. The company has been around for 12 years and is rumored to be in talks with, you guessed it, OpenAI. They also have a deal with Microsoft to supply them electricity by 2028, which is years before their competitors are expecting. Helion has announced a $425 million Series F raise that comes along with a $5.245 billion valuation. This comes on the heels of their latest prototype, Polaris, which is anticipated to be the first fusion reactor to generate electricity. The new round is smaller than the startup’s previous fundraise of $500 million. New investors in the round include Lightspeed Venture Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and a major university endowment. Existing investors Sam Altman, Capricorn Investment Group, Mithril Capital, Dustin Moskovitz, and Nucor also participated. When will be start seeing these fusion startups delivering electricity?

Quantum Alice&Bob:

Alice&Bob is a Paris-based startup that is a pioneer in cat qubit quantum architecture (sorry you’re on your own trying to figure out what that means). The company recently raised a $104 million Series B with a non-confirmed valuation around $300-$400 million. The company believes they will have the first “useful” quantum computer by 2030. We know that quantum computing will be important in the future. Even the big tech companies like Meta and Nvidia are talking about quantum computers. Will Alice&Bob be able to deliver on this? And why name the company Alice&Bob?

Venture:

Can OpenAI really raise $500B for Stargate?:

As we’ve discussed, Stargate is the massive infrastructure project to build data centers for OpenAI in the U.S. The plan lacks isn’t fully developed and they haven’t secured funding yet. Backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, Middle East AI fund MGX, and others, Stargate would funnel around $100 billion. Eventually raising upward of $500 billion to pour into data centers to support OpenAI’s AI workloads. However, SoftBank and OpenAI each will only commit roughly $15 billion to the project to start. They and Stargate’s other backers hope to raise a combination of equity from existing investors and debt to reach the project’s lofty goals. Billionaire and the head of President Donald Trump’s DOGE advisory commission, Elon Musk, has criticized Stargate on social media in recent days, claiming that the project doesn’t have the money it says it does. His comments are said to have raised the ire of top White House aids, despite Trump’s efforts to downplay them. Should we believe Elon or is he just unpleased with OpenAI still?

Big Tech:

Spotify’s $10B bill:

Spotify paid $10 billion to the music industry last year alone. The company has reportedly paid a total of $60 billion since the company’s inception. This is another effort from Spotify to dispel reports that the company doesn’t reward artists properly for their work. The key point to note is that the payouts also include money given to other partners, such as publishers. Earlier this month, a report from music financing platform Duetti noted that per-stream rates for independent artists are stabilizing after a few years of decline. However, Spotify was the lowest in these payouts, with $3.0 per 1,000 streams. Other platforms like Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube paid $8.8, $6.2, and $4.8 per 1,000 streams in 2024. Will Spotify continue to be people’s go to music app? How much will Spotify pay the music industry this year?